Mitch Evans expressed his gratitude to his Jaguar Formula E team as the Kiwi called time on his time at the British team at the final round in London.
After a stint which has delivered 38 podiums, 16 wins and 1159 championship points, Evans reflects on his tenure with the team as they narrowly missed out on the driver’s title.
Jaguar left to rue bad luck as Formula E driver’s title slips away
Heading into London, Evans found himself two points adrift of championship leader Jake Dennis but the Kiwi’s championship challenge fell apart in the opening race.
With Evans running in the net race lead after taking pit boost, a full course yellow due to Lucas Di Grassi finding the barriers turned the race on its head.
Evans stayed tenth as the drivers ahead gained track position with an effective free pit stop. Finishing eighth overall with championship rivals Jake Dennis and Pascal Wehrlein both in the top two meant the Jaguar driver had a mountain to climb in the second race.
“Yesterday was a massive curveball for us,” admitted Evans after the second race. “We knew today was going to be a hard task.”
Having missed FP3, the Kiwi failed to beat Nyck De Vries in the duels and lined up fifth for the final race.
“I missed FP3 and I had to get in the rhythm in qualy and that’s not always great,” Evans said. “To make it to the duels was good I guess but I just couldn’t quite get there.”
Despite a strong race, fourth place wasn’t enough as Jaguar and Evans missed out on the Formula E driver’s championship by nine points.
“At one point I just said it was now or never and went for it. Maybe I could have been a bit more aggressive earlier on. It was hard to know how far to take it.”
“Ultimately it was a bit too late.”
End of an era as Evans goes in search of a new challenge
Having joined the Jaguar outfit all the way back in Season 3, Evans brings the curtain down on his Jaguar Formula E stint after nine seasons.
The Kiwi makes the jump to new team Opel Motorsport Formula E ahead of the new GEN 4 Era.
“Who would have thought what we’d achieve in those ten years,” Evans said. “It’s been great.”
“We’ve achieved everything in between: two teams world championships, many podiums, 16 wins. There’s been a lot to be proud of. I owe this team a lot.”
“It’s been a great journey. It’s still hard to believe I won’t be with them anymore.”
